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To the leader. A Psalm of David.

3 You are indeed my rock and my fortress;for your name’s sake lead me and guide me,4 take me out of the net that is hidden for me,for you are my refuge.5 Into your hand I commit my spirit;you have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God.

6 You hate[a] those who pay regard to worthless idols,but I trust in the Lord.7 I will exult and rejoice in your steadfast love,because you have seen my affliction;you have taken heed of my adversities,8 and have not delivered me into the hand of the enemy;you have set my feet in a broad place.

9 Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am in distress;my eye wastes away from grief,my soul and body also.10 For my life is spent with sorrow,and my years with sighing;my strength fails because of my misery,[b]and my bones waste away.

11 I am the scorn of all my adversaries,a horror[c] to my neighbors,an object of dread to my acquaintances;those who see me in the street flee from me.12 I have passed out of mind like one who is dead;I have become like a broken vessel.13 For I hear the whispering of many—terror all around!—as they scheme together against me,as they plot to take my life.

14 But I trust in you, O Lord;I say, “You are my God.”15 My times are in your hand;deliver me from the hand of my enemies and persecutors.16 Let your face shine upon your servant;save me in your steadfast love.17 Do not let me be put to shame, O Lord,for I call on you;let the wicked be put to shame;let them go dumbfounded to Sheol.18 Let the lying lips be stilledthat speak insolently against the righteouswith pride and contempt.

19 O how abundant is your goodnessthat you have laid up for those who fear you,and accomplished for those who take refuge in you,in the sight of everyone!20 In the shelter of your presence you hide themfrom human plots;you hold them safe under your shelterfrom contentious tongues.

21 Blessed be the Lord,for he has wondrously shown his steadfast love to mewhen I was beset as a city under siege.22 I had said in my alarm,“I am driven far[d] from your sight.”But you heard my supplicationswhen I cried out to you for help.

23 Love the Lord, all you his saints.The Lord preserves the faithful,but abundantly repays the one who acts haughtily.24 Be strong, and let your heart take courage,all you who wait for the Lord.

Footnotes:

Psalm 35

Prayer for Deliverance from Enemies

Of David.

1 Contend, O Lord, with those who contend with me;fight against those who fight against me!2 Take hold of shield and buckler,and rise up to help me!3 Draw the spear and javelinagainst my pursuers;say to my soul,“I am your salvation.”

4 Let them be put to shame and dishonorwho seek after my life.Let them be turned back and confoundedwho devise evil against me.5 Let them be like chaff before the wind,with the angel of the Lord driving them on.6 Let their way be dark and slippery,with the angel of the Lord pursuing them.

7 For without cause they hid their net[a] for me;without cause they dug a pit[b] for my life.8 Let ruin come on them unawares.And let the net that they hid ensnare them;let them fall in it—to their ruin.

9 Then my soul shall rejoice in the Lord,exulting in his deliverance.10 All my bones shall say,“O Lord, who is like you?You deliver the weakfrom those too strong for them,the weak and needy from those who despoil them.”

11 Malicious witnesses rise up;they ask me about things I do not know.12 They repay me evil for good;my soul is forlorn.13 But as for me, when they were sick,I wore sackcloth;I afflicted myself with fasting.I prayed with head bowed[c] on my bosom,14 as though I grieved for a friend or a brother;I went about as one who laments for a mother,bowed down and in mourning.

15 But at my stumbling they gathered in glee,they gathered together against me;ruffians whom I did not knowtore at me without ceasing;16 they impiously mocked more and more,[d]gnashing at me with their teeth.

17 How long, O Lord, will you look on?Rescue me from their ravages,my life from the lions!18 Then I will thank you in the great congregation;in the mighty throng I will praise you.

19 Do not let my treacherous enemies rejoice over me,or those who hate me without cause wink the eye.20 For they do not speak peace,but they conceive deceitful wordsagainst those who are quiet in the land.21 They open wide their mouths against me;they say, “Aha, Aha,our eyes have seen it.”

22 You have seen, O Lord; do not be silent!O Lord, do not be far from me!23 Wake up! Bestir yourself for my defense,for my cause, my God and my Lord!24 Vindicate me, O Lord, my God,according to your righteousness,and do not let them rejoice over me.25 Do not let them say to themselves,“Aha, we have our heart’s desire.”Do not let them say, “We have swallowed you[e] up.”

26 Let all those who rejoice at my calamitybe put to shame and confusion;let those who exalt themselves against mebe clothed with shame and dishonor.

27 Let those who desire my vindicationshout for joy and be glad,and say evermore,“Great is the Lord,who delights in the welfare of his servant.”28 Then my tongue shall tell of your righteousnessand of your praise all day long.

Jeroboam’s Rebellion

26 Jeroboam son of Nebat, an Ephraimite of Zeredah, a servant of Solomon, whose mother’s name was Zeruah, a widow, rebelled against the king. 27 The following was the reason he rebelled against the king. Solomon built the Millo, and closed up the gap in the wall[a] of the city of his father David. 28 The man Jeroboam was very able, and when Solomon saw that the young man was industrious he gave him charge over all the forced labor of the house of Joseph. 29 About that time, when Jeroboam was leaving Jerusalem, the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite found him on the road. Ahijah had clothed himself with a new garment. The two of them were alone in the open country 30 when Ahijah laid hold of the new garment he was wearing and tore it into twelve pieces. 31 He then said to Jeroboam: Take for yourself ten pieces; for thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, “See, I am about to tear the kingdom from the hand of Solomon, and will give you ten tribes. 32 One tribe will remain his, for the sake of my servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city that I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel. 33 This is because he has[b] forsaken me, worshiped Astarte the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of Moab, and Milcom the god of the Ammonites, and has[c] not walked in my ways, doing what is right in my sight and keeping my statutes and my ordinances, as his father David did. 34 Nevertheless I will not take the whole kingdom away from him but will make him ruler all the days of his life, for the sake of my servant David whom I chose and who did keep my commandments and my statutes; 35 but I will take the kingdom away from his son and give it to you—that is, the ten tribes. 36 Yet to his son I will give one tribe, so that my servant David may always have a lamp before me in Jerusalem, the city where I have chosen to put my name. 37 I will take you, and you shall reign over all that your soul desires; you shall be king over Israel. 38 If you will listen to all that I command you, walk in my ways, and do what is right in my sight by keeping my statutes and my commandments, as David my servant did, I will be with you, and will build you an enduring house, as I built for David, and I will give Israel to you. 39 For this reason I will punish the descendants of David, but not forever.” 40 Solomon sought therefore to kill Jeroboam; but Jeroboam promptly fled to Egypt, to King Shishak of Egypt, and remained in Egypt until the death of Solomon.

Death of Solomon

41 Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, all that he did as well as his wisdom, are they not written in the Book of the Acts of Solomon? 42 The time that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel was forty years. 43 Solomon slept with his ancestors and was buried in the city of his father David; and his son Rehoboam succeeded him.

Footnotes:

Boasting about Tomorrow

13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a town and spend a year there, doing business and making money.” 14 Yet you do not even know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. 15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wishes, we will live and do this or that.” 16 As it is, you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil. 17 Anyone, then, who knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, commits sin.

Warning to Rich Oppressors

5 Come now, you rich people, weep and wail for the miseries that are coming to you. 2 Your riches have rotted, and your clothes are moth-eaten. 3 Your gold and silver have rusted, and their rust will be evidence against you, and it will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure[a] for the last days. 4 Listen! The wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. 5 You have lived on the earth in luxury and in pleasure; you have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. 6 You have condemned and murdered the righteous one, who does not resist you.

Footnotes:

22 Then they brought Jesus[a] to the place called Golgotha (which means the place of a skull). 23 And they offered him wine mixed with myrrh; but he did not take it. 24 And they crucified him, and divided his clothes among them, casting lots to decide what each should take.

25 It was nine o’clock in the morning when they crucified him. 26 The inscription of the charge against him read, “The King of the Jews.” 27 And with him they crucified two bandits, one on his right and one on his left.[b]29 Those who passed by derided[c] him, shaking their heads and saying, “Aha! You who would destroy the temple and build it in three days, 30 save yourself, and come down from the cross!” 31 In the same way the chief priests, along with the scribes, were also mocking him among themselves and saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. 32 Let the Messiah,[d] the King of Israel, come down from the cross now, so that we may see and believe.” Those who were crucified with him also taunted him.